Smart card connector

ABSTRACT

Smart-card connector ( 1 ) having a contact element support ( 11 ) within which contact elements are supported. A cover ( 12 ) is pivotably mounted at the contact element support ( 11 ). A cam ( 50 ) is provided at said cover ( 12 ) so as to bearing means ( 48 ) of the cover out of the pivot location at the contact element support in case the cover is improperly operated.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a connector or contactingapparatus for a smart card or a chip card. Preferably the inventionrelates to a SIM-card connector having a contact element supportpreferably in the form of a frame and a cover pivotally mounted at saidcontact element support.

BACKGROUND ART

Smart-card connectors for smart cards, in particular for SIM-cards arewell-known and frequently comprise a contact element support and a coverpivotally mounted at said contact element support. The cover is adaptedto support a smart card or a SIM card in its inserted position. EP 0 472692 discloses such a smart card connector. Typically, the contactelement support, in particular a frame forming the contact elementsupport, as well as the cover are two separate components which are madeof plastic material by means of injection moulding. In general, thecover comprises bearing means in the form of pivot pins which areinserted into suitable bearing means at the contact element support. Theposition of the pivot pins defines the rotary or pivot axis about whichthe cover is pivoted when opening or closing the cover. Frequently, thecover and/or the contact element support comprise suitable latchingmeans, so as to latch or lock the cover in a locked position and to holdthe cover safely at or within the contact element support. In thismanner, a secure mounting of the inserted card is guaranteed, even ifimpact forces occur.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

If a connector for a smart card or for a SIM-card is used in a mobiletelephone, frequently only a limited amount of space is available forplacing the connector in the apparatus, for instance a mobile telephone.For this reason smart card or SIM-card connectors are small and aredesirably not much larger than the SIM-card itself.

In particular, when pivoting the cover from the closed to an openposition, it may happen that the cover is pivoted beyond a certainangular degree with the result that the pivot pins of the cover and/orthe bearing means in the contact element support are possibly damaged ordestroyed.

It is desirable that the cover will disengage and move into a reliefposition so as to avoid any damages at the contact element supportbearing means and/or cover bearing means.

The present invention provides a smart-card connector, in particular aSIM-card connector, which will not be damaged if its cover is openedbeyond a certain degree. The invention provides for a certaindisengagement of the cover from the contact element support or for arelief position so that, even if a faulty operation of the cover occurs,a destruction or deterioration of the cover and/or contact elementsupport, in particular the bearing means thereof, is avoided.

In accordance with the present invention a smart card connector, inparticular a SIM-card connector, is provided. The SIM-card connectorcomprises a contact element support, preferably in the form of a frame.A cover is pivotally mounted about a pivot axis due to the engagement ofcontact element support bearing means and cover bearing means. The coveris pivotally and slidably mounted at the contact element support. Thecover can be moved from an opening position, in which the cover isapproximately sixty degrees open with respect to the plane defined bythe contact element support, into a closed position where the cover isin abutment with the upper surface of the contact element support. Fromthis closed position the cover can be slidably moved in a horizontalplane in a locking or latching position. In case the cover is moved fromthe opening position into an even more open position, i.e. beyond acertain angular degree, then cam means are provided at the cover to movethe cover into a relief position avoiding any damage of the bearingmeans of the contact element support and of the cover.

The cam means preferably co-operates with a cam or leveraging surfacewith which the cam means comes into engagement when the cover is pivotedbeyond a certain angular degree. When the cam means comes intoengagement with the leveraging surface, the bearing means of the coverand the cover are moved out of the pivoting position into a reliefposition.

The leveraging surface can be provided by the apparatus within which thesmart-card connector is inserted. Alternatively, the leveraging surfacecan be provided at the contacting element support. In a particularlydesirable embodiment, the leveraging surface is a mounting surface inthe apparatus onto which a mounting side or surface of the contactelement support is placed when the smart-card connector is installed inthe apparatus, e.g. a mobile telephone. This provides for a greatflexibility when installing the smart-card connector in an apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may bemade to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view of a smart card connector in the formof a SIM-card connector in accordance with a first embodiment of theinvention with the cover being shown in a first opening position;

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the SIM-card connector of FIG. 1,wherein the cover is shown in a second opening position.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged part of FIG. 2, wherein covered portions are shownby dashed lines; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side-elevational view of the contact elementsupport of the SIM-card connector of FIG. 1 without a cover beingpivotally mounted thereon.

FIGS. 1 to 4 disclose a smart-card connector more specifically aSIM-card connector 1 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention in side-elevational views. i.e. the SIM-card connector1 extends into the plane of the drawing and would have in substance thesame side elevational view from the opposite side as it is shown in FIG.1. The smart-card connector 1 can be installed into an apparatus 7,preferably a cell phone. The apparatus 7 is only schematicallyrepresented showing those parts of the apparatus 7 which are adjacent tothe smart-card connector 1. The smart-card connector 1 comprises ahousing or contact element support 11 preferably in the form of a frame11. At one end of the contact-element support 11 a cover 12 is pivotallymounted about a pivot or rotary axis 13. Contact element support 11 andcover 12 are preferably made as injection moulded components of plasticmaterial. The cover 12 comprises a SIM-card cover portion 42 with anactuating portion 46 at the free end of the cover 12 and a cover hingeor bearing portion 44 at the opposite end. Preferably, there are twolaterally oppositely located actuating portions 46 and two laterallyoppositely located hinge portions 44.

Preferably, contact elements, which are not shown, are supported withinthe contact element support 11. The contact elements are adapted tocontact contact surfaces of a smart card, in particularly of a SIM-cardwhich is inserted into the smart-card connector 1. In FIGS. 1 to 5 theSIM-card is not shown. However, it is clear, that such a SIM-card can beinserted either directly into the contact element support 11 or—as ispreferred—into the cover 12 such that the contact surfaces of the cardwill contact the contact elements mounted in the contact element support11 in case the cover 12 is in a closed position (not shown).

The contact-element support 11 comprises a bottom surface 14. Thecontact element support 11 is mounted on a mounting surface 17 of theapparatus 7 by means of the bottom surface 14, as it is shown in FIGS. 1to 5. The mounting surface 17 can be a part of the printed circuit board(not shown), which serves for contacting of the contact elementssupported within the contact element support 11. In FIGS. 1 to 5 thebottom surface 14 is shown as being spaced with a certain distance withrespect to the mounting surface 17 of the apparatus 6. Preferably,however, the bottom surface 14 of the smart-card connector 1 is inimmediate contact with the mounting surface 17.

The contact element support 11 is provided with contact element supportbearing means adapted to co-operate with cover bearing means such thatthe cover 12 can be pivoted from the opening position of FIG. 1 into aclosed position (not shown) in which the cover 12 extends horizontally.From the closed position the cover 12 can be slidably moved leftwardlyinto a locked position where the actuating portion(s) 46 of the cover 12lockingly engages a part of the contact element support 11. FIG. 5discloses, as far as the contact element support bearing means isconcerned, one of two bearing blocks or bearings 19 which define abearing recess or bearing location 20. The other bearing block 19 is notshown in the drawings but is located at the opposite side of the contactelement support 11 spaced by a distance of about the width of theSIM-card. The bearing recess 20 bearingly supports the pivotable cover12, as will be described below.

While, preferably, as mentioned, at least two bearings 19 with similarlydesigned bearing recesses 20 are provided at opposite sides of apreferably rectangular-shaped contact element support 11 (as shown forinstance for a known smart-card connector of this type in detail in EP 0472 692) it is understood that a plurality of such bearings 19 withrespective bearing recesses 20 could be provided along the rotary orpivot axis 13 of the cover 12.

In FIG. 1 a part of the bearing recess or bearing location 20 is coveredby the pivotable mounted cover 12. The respective covered portions areshown by dashed lines in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5. FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 alsodisclose that the bearing recess 20 has a generally rectangular formwith rounded corners. The bearing recess 20 comprises a pivot positionor location 22 and preferably a locking or latching position or location24. The pivot location 22 and the latching location 24 are separatedfrom each other within the bearing recess 20 by means of a rib 26.Generally speaking, the bearing recess 20 comprises the followingrecesses in the contact element support blocks or bearings 19: A pivotrecess 28 and a latching recess 30 are provided having a first depthextending into the plane of the drawing. Further, a recess 32 having alesser depth than the first mentioned depth is provided in the area ofthe rib 26. In FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 a recess or opening 34 is shown at thecontact element support bearing 19, the depth of the recess 34 beingsmaller than the first depth for the pivot and latching recesses 28 and30, respectively. The opening 34 defines in the contact element supportbearing 19 a relief position 36 which will be described in more detailbelow.

The cover 12 is provided at two oppositely arranged cover hinge orbearing portions 44 with cover bearing means, which, as is shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, comprise, in substance, at the hinge or bearing portion44 a cover bearing in the form of a pivot pin 48 which is inserted intobearing recess 20. Preferably, two pivot pins 48 are provided atlaterally opposite sides of the cover 12. In FIGS. 1 and 3 said bearingpin 48 is covered but is shown schematically by dashed lines in FIGS. 2and 4.

The cover portion 42 comprises in general the actuating portion(s) 46which comprises suitable means for handling and operating the cover 12.The cover portion 42 of the cover 12 is provided with abutment andholding means for the SIM-card (not shown) which can be inserted intosaid cover 12. This is known from the prior art. It is also possible toinsert the card into the contact-element support 11 prior to closing thecover 12.

Furthermore, at the cover bearing portion 44 an excenter or cam 50 isprovided, preferably formed together with the cover 12, by injectionmoulding of plastic material.

For a clearer representation, the contact element support bearing(s) 19and the cover bearing pins 48, which are inserted into said contactelement support bearing(s) 19, are shown in enlarged version in FIGS. 3and 4 with covered portions in FIG. 4 being shown by dashed lines. Thepivot pin 48 has generally the shape of a circular cylinder and is,preferably, completely received within the pivot and latching recesses28 and 30, respectively. The center axis of the circular cylindricalpivot pin 48 defines the position of the rotary or pivot axis 13. Eventhough only one cover bearing portion 44 is shown in the drawings, it isquite clear, that preferably two contact element support bearings 19 areprovided to co-operate with respective two cover bearings 48.

Cam means, preferably two cams 50 are provided, each one formed at thelaterally oppositely located ends of the cover 12, i.e. at ends whichare opposite to the actuating portions 46. For further explanations,FIGS. 3 and 4 show a longitudinal axis 60 of the cover 12 as cutting thepivot axis 13 and also cutting a transversal axis 61 extendingperpendicular to the longitudinal axis 60. Each cam 50 is defined insubstance by an outer surface 70 of the cover bearing portion 44. Saidouter surface 70 has a distance with respect to the pivot axis 13 or thecentre axis of the pivot pin 48 which becomes larger and larger startingfrom an imaginary sectional point A (FIG. 3) of the transversal axis 61with the outer surface 70 and ending at a point B on the outer surface70.

For a closed cover 12 (not shown), point A on the outer surface 70 ofthe cover bearing portion 44 is approximately in a plane with the bottomsurface 14 of the contact element support 11. Preferably, the outersurface 70 of the cover bearing portion 44 is, for a closed cover 12 inengagement with the mounting surface 17 of the housing 7 at point A.When opening the cover 12 from its closed position, the outer surface 70continues to be supported and abut at the mounting surface 17. The cam50 defined by the outer surface 70 will then—for a continued openingmovement—roll in a clockwise direction on the mounting surface 17 andwill press due to the increasing distance of the outer surface 70 withrespect to the center axis of the pivot pin 48, the pivot axis 13perpendicularly away from the mounting surface 17 as is shown by thearrow 80 in FIGS. 1 and 2 (in FIGS. 1 to 4 the movement is upwardly).Thus, the pivot pin 48 is pushed outwardly and upwardly in the directionof the arrow 80 into the relief position due to the rolling of the cam50 on the mounting surface 17 at the pivot location 22.

As shown best in FIG. 4, due to the shape of the outer surface 70 of thecam 50, the pivot pin 48 is moved out of the pivot location 22 into therelief position 36 defined by the opening 34. FIG. 4 shows an examplehow the pivot pin 48 has been moved at least partially into the reliefposition 36 of the bearing location 20 due to the complete rolling ofthe cam 50 on the mounting surface 17. In this manner it is guaranteedthat neither the pivot pin 48 nor the bearing recess 20 is destroyed ifthe cover 12 is incorrectly operated, i.e. is pivoted beyond a certainpredetermined angular degree. This is so because the pivot pin 48 willmove into its relief position (FIGS. 2, 4) through opening 34 in thecontact element support bearing 19 if the cover 12 is opened furtherfrom the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. In case the cover 12 has beenmoved out of the bearing position 20 into its relief position 36 due toan inappropriate operation thereof, then the pivot pins 48 of the cover12 can be easily reinserted through the opening 34 into the bearinglocation 20 or if more bearing locations are provided into the bearinglocations 20.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention each one cam 50 is formedat the two oppositely arranged cover bearing portions 44. The cams 50could also be formed at a different location of the cover 12 and stillbe effective to move the pivot pin(s) 48 out of the bearing recess 20when opening the cover 12 such that the pivot pin(s) 48 come into therelease position.

The cam surface or leveraging surface for the cam 50 can be a differentsurface than the mounting surface 17. Said cam surface can either beformed in the apparatus 7 or else on the contact element support 11. Itis also conceivable that the pivot pin 48 is moved not upwardly out ofthe bearing location 20. By using a suitably designed cam the movementof the pivot pin(s) 48 occurs into a different direction for instancesideways, to the right, or to the left according to the drawings.

Additional improvements and modifications can be gathered from thedescription as well the drawings and the appended claims.

1. A smart-card connector (1) comprising: a contact-element support (11)defining contact element bearing means (20), contact elements mounted insaid contact-element support (11), a cover (12) comprising cover bearingmeans (48) pivotally mounting said cover (12) at the contact elementsupport bearing means and defining a pivot location (22) for said cover(12) for movement from an opening position into a closed position, saidcover (12) being pivotably mounted about a pivot axis (13) extendingthrough said pivot location (22), and wherein said cover (12) isprovided with cam means (50) adapted to move the cover bearing means(48) out of the pivot location (22) and into a relief position (36) whenthe cover (12) is opened a certain angular degree beyond the openingposition.
 2. A smart-card connector (1) according to claim 1, whereinsaid contact-element support comprises a frame (11).
 3. A smart-cardconnector (1) according to claim 1, wherein said cover (12) comprises acover portion (42).
 4. A smart-card connector (1) according to claim 1,comprising at least two oppositely arranged pivot locations (22) andsaid contact-element support bearing means comprises two oppositelylocated contact element support bearings (19) adapted to co-operate withtwo corresponding oppositely located cover bearings (48) provided at thecover (12).
 5. A smart-card connector (1) according to claim 1, whereinadjacent to the pivot location (22) the relief position (36) is providedby a recess (34) in said contact element bearing means.
 6. A smart-cardconnector (1) according to claim 1, wherein said cam means (50) isadapted to co-operate with a cam or leveraging surface (17) so as tomove the cover (12) out of the pivot location (22) in said contactelement support into the relief position (36).
 7. A smart-card connector(1) according to claim 6, wherein the leveraging surface is formed atthe contact element support.
 8. A smart-card connector (1) according toclaim 6, wherein the leveraging surface is provided by a surface of anapparatus (7) within which the smart-card connector (1) is installed. 9.A smart-card connector (1) according to claim 8, wherein the contactelement support comprises a bottom surface (14) which is adapted to beplaced on a mounting surface (17) in the apparatus (7) when thesmart-card connector (1) is installed into said apparatus (7), whereinsaid mounting surface (17) in the apparatus serves as the leveragingsurface.
 10. A smart-card connector (1) according to claim 1, wherein adirection of movement (80) into which the cover bearing means (48) ismoved by the cam means (50) during opening of the cover (12) extendsperpendicularly with respect to the leveraging surface (17).
 11. Asmart-card connector (1) according to claim 1, wherein said cam means(50) comprises two spaced cams (50) each at an outer surface (70) ofcover bearing portions (70).
 12. A smart-card connector (1) according toclaim 1, wherein adjacent to the pivot location (22) in the contactelement support at least one latching location (24) is formed into whichsaid cover bearing means (48) can be moved by longitudinal movement ofthe cover (12).
 13. A smart-card connector (1) according to claim 1,wherein the cover bearing means comprise two bearing or pivot pins (48),wherein said pivot pins are inserted into pivot recesses (28) in saidcontact element support, said pivot recesses (28) defining said pivotlocation (22), and wherein the relief position (36) is defined by reliefopenings (34) in the contact element support (11) adjacent to the pivotrecesses (28).
 14. A smart-card connector (1) comprising: a contactelement support (11) defining contact element bearing means (20) in theform of two oppositely located bearing recesses (20), a cover (12)comprising cover bearing means in the form of two oppositely locatedpivot pins (48) adapted to be inserted into said contact recesses forpivotably mounting said cover about a pivot axis (13), and twooppositely located cams (50) at oppositely located cover ends adjacentto said pivot axis so as to move the cover bearing pins out of thecontact element support recesses into a relief position (36) when thecover is opened a certain angle degree beyond an opening position ofabout 60° of the cover.